Jul 15, 2025 By Jerin Steele 4 min read

For a state champion wrestler like Marlee Solomon, going to a major tournament like the Fargo Nationals in North Dakota last weekend was a good test.

She went against some of the best wrestlers in her age group and that provided plenty of good feedback.

She learned she can compete with pretty much anyone and can hone in some areas she needs to work on.

Solomon, who will be a junior at Canon-McMillan, grinded her way through a grueling 128-wrestler bracket and placed second overall, losing in the finals to Reagan Mathers of Arizona in the 16U girls 115-pound final Sunday.

“It was a pretty fun tournament,” Solomon said. “There were a lot of good girls there and I’m glad there was, because that means girls wrestling is growing. It’s nice to see how the competition is getting better.

“I feel confident about how it went. I know I could’ve done better in some aspects, but I’m grateful that I was able to go there and perform the way I did.”

Mathers was a familiar opponent in the final.

Solomon said she had beaten her twice previously, but this time it was Mathers who came out on top.

Mathers won by a 6-0 decision.

“She’s a really talented wrestler,” Solomon said. “I was really nervous, first of all, and I didn’t get a very good warmup in, so I think that was part of it. I’m happy for her that she won, but I’m not done seeing her.”

The next time Solomon and Mathers have the potential to meet is at the Super 32 tournament in North Carolina in October.

“Reagan will be there,” Solomon said. “She won it last year, so I can’t wait to see her there. It’s a big competition, because it’s combined 16U and juniors.”

Solomon, who won the 112-pound state championship in March, had to win six matches to get to the Fargo Nationals final.

She wrestled four times on Saturday and didn’t find much resistance.

Solmon pinned Daisy Tomblin of West Virginia in her opening match. In the round of 64, she earned a 10-0 technical fall against Ana Ziegler of Maine and followed that with a 11-0 technical fall against Alyssa Salemie of Missouri.

Solomon finished her day with a pin against Patricia Bray of California to get to Sunday’s quarterfinals.

“It was a pretty good day,” Solomon said. “I was pretty on top of it that day.”

Solomon started Sunday by pinning Erica Irvine of Iowa that set up a meeting with New Jersey’s Lucia Ranieri in the semifinals.

The semifinal match was tight and finished in a 3-3 decision, but Solomon won on criteria. Solomon said the match shouldn’t have been as close as it ended up, but was proud that she powered through to get the win.

“I had taken a double leg and got exposure on it for two points and then I got another point,” Solomon said. “(Ranieri) only got push out points on me, so it was 3-3, but I won because I scored the bigger move.”

Solomon will wrestle in Hershey next week and then prepare for Super 32.

She’ll take what she learned over the weekend and apply it to get ready to try and win a major wrestling event.

“When I face girls that are either supposed to be better than me or around the same skill level, I learn a lot about how hard I’ve been working in the room and what I can change to work harder,” Solomon said. “If I was nervous going into a match that’s something I know now that I can go work on in the room and fix. It’ll make me feel better the next time I go out there knowing I put in the hard work to fix it and I can go out there and let it fly.”